


Remembrance of Rose

by orphan_account



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Add tags as I go, Alive Rose Quartz, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Everyone swears, F/F, F/M, Homeworld Hierarchy (Steven Universe), Implied/Referenced Suicide, Nonbinary Connie Maheswaran, Panic Attacks, Short Chapters, Steven Universe Needs Therapy, Steven is not okay, Swearing, every time i update the tags it gets worse, give us more nb connie fics, maybe corrupted steven, rose quartz sucks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-02-13
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:13:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22614664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Steven finds a gem.
Relationships: Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe, Past Greg Universe/Rose Quartz | Pink Diamond, Past Pearl/Rose Quartz | Pink Diamond, Ruby/Sapphire (Steven Universe)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 79





	1. Prologue

Ever since he was little, Steven had been told time and time again that his mother had died upon giving birth to him. He had been under the assumption that Rose being dead was a universal truth, and no matter how hard anyone tried, she couldn't be brought back. 

So why was he holding her gem? 

When he first discovered it, he raged until he couldn't anymore. He panicked, cried, shouted, screamed, gasped for air, turned pink, and grasped at the supposed diamond on his belly button, finally landing on dissociating for an entire week. His body operated on its own as he thought about how this was possible; who had lied to him to hide Pink Diamond's very own gem within Lion's mane. 

He had stumbled upon her when investigating the large cherry blossom tree, finding her in a carved box within one of the branches. The box, only having an oval symbol on the front and a small key-sized hole on the back, was covered in moss. He could only guess how long its been there.

Steven closed his eyes, let himself shake for a few moments, then opened them. His body was pink again, and the sharp, pointy gem nearly fell from the mishandling of weight as he held it closer to his body. He kinda wanted to throw it — out of lingering anger or confusion, he didn't know — and see what would happen to his own. Was his gem a clone? Did someone make a new diamond only to mix it with a human? Was he an experiment, or a child, born purely out of love? A byproduct of... of...

He grasped his own gem carefully, shaking his head to dispel any negative thoughts towards himself. He existed despite all that, right? He should be happy to be alive. Maybe this was all a huge misunderstanding. Maybe this is just how gems and humans make kids. 

His hand fell to his mother's, using his thumbs to rub against the gem softly. 

His body probably looked and smelled terrible. He had neglected to leave the room for the past few days, save for going to the bathroom and eating, and not having slept probably didn't help. The gems hadn't noticed, each of them teaching their respective classes, and for once, it upset him that they weren't interfering. He understood he was probably disgusting, but he couldn't bring himself to act on it. He needed someone to force him to take care of himself. He could even admit he had always been like this, but it seemed this only accentuated when he found her.

Breathing in once more, he decided he needed rest. Overthinking nonstop would not help him. 


	2. 1. Bad Words

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone swears.

He woke up to the bright shining light of a gem reforming.

At first he couldn't believe this was happening. How did he let her reform? How did he allow himself the sweet grace of sleep when she was right there? He was so fucking stupid. He sat up immediately, running a hand through his greasy hair. His hand was nearly wet from sweat. He hoped to God Rose wouldn't think any less of him. 

A bright white light consumed the surrounding area, the gem in front of him morphing silhouettes from a tall, somewhat chubby gem with a puffball for hair into an equally tall, chubbier woman with huge locks. Color framed the body carefully, letting each and every shade take control of a limb. The woman, clearly Rose, settled on her classic dress. Steven couldn't help but choke on a sob.

He moved his body back as quick as hybridly possible, the shrieks of his shoes against the rough floor snapping his mother to attention. Her eyes, bright pink with diamond pupils, looked back at him. Rose looked like she was taunting him, with each soft feature of her face betraying everything she stood for. Every time he looked at her, he saw another flashback of every terrible thing she's ever done. God, he hates her. He just didn't think he'd react like this when he finally saw her. 

His hand reached down to his gem for the fifth time in the past 24 hours, allowing him to see that his body was bright pink. He was pink again. "Fuck." He started shaking. His breath fell shorter and shorter with each coming second, his hand whipping up to his chest. He could hear his heartbeat in his ears — feel it raging in his chest. His flip-flops started sliding on the floor, his feet not being able to push him back any more than they already have. "Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck." 

"A human!" His heartbeat picked up. He clutched his chest, trying to catch his breath. His mother smiled at him happily, moving closer and closer with her arms open wide. "How cute! Though, I do have to ask if you're real or not... It seems like we're in my room." She turned her head a few times, trying to figure out if this was fake like everything else usually was. The pink of the room turned a darker shade, possibly reacting to Rose's thoughts — she turned back to him, smiling wildly. "Oh, you're pink! And — and... Stars, you're panicking." 

Steven let out a whimper as her hair touched his face, her body leaning down to comfort him. "N—no, please." Her soft, plump hand reached to touch his chin. "No, please, stop." He started hiccuping, his vision colliding harshly with purple and black. His body was shaking rapidly. 

"No, no, no, it's okay, honey," she cooed, ignoring his cries of fear. "I'm Rose, and I'm here to help you, okay?" He shook his head, tears sliding down his cheeks. He opened his mouth time and time again, trying desperately to get another word out. 'Please,' he'd say, 'please just go away.' He was bawling his eyes out, and all Rose did was coo at sing a little lullaby, tenderly touching his arm. 

"Stop," he whispered once more, his words going unheard by the giant gem sitting in front oh him. She continued to comfort him, neglecting to listen to the only thing he actually wanted. Her very presence freaked him out, even if the first thing she wanted to do was care for him. She might be a better person than what she was five thousand years ago, but he can't just forget everything she's done in the past. "I said _**stop!**_ " 

A blast of pink made its way towards Rose, knocking her far back. Her body hit a rock-hard cloud, letting out a sickening crack as her body destabilized for a solid second or two. She heard him mumble, and that was that. She brought her hand up to her eye and stood up, letting herself cry tears to regenerate. She heard the door to her room open and the skit of some shoes trampling the floor, the loud, echoing sound carrying over to every nook and cranny. She felt... angry? At herself, at him — she didn't know. Was there something left over from before she reformed? How long had it really been? Stars, she couldn't remember anything up until she told Pearl she would bring Steven to Homeworld.

It was as if a lightbulb had gone off over her head. Of course Pearl would poof her for 'her safety'. She had done so before, why did she think he wouldn't do so again? 

Steven, a few feet away and stumbling over himself to escape, hit the door he was so desperately trying to reach. The door opened, revealing a very anxious looking Pearl, peering directly down at him in fear. "Steven!" She exclaimed, whipping her hands up to her mouth in worry. Her hair was dishevelled — something rare for Pearl — and her clothes looked wrinkled. "Oh _my **Stars!**_ Are you okay?" He hiccuped in reply, and that was enough for her to let out a cry filled to the brim with anguish. 

Rose, a good few feet away, watched this with contempt; this was Steven? The boy who had started crying when he saw her reform was her son? The boy who was supposed to love her unconditionally, according to Greg, was terrified of her. All because of how Pearl raised him. Presumably. 

"Pearl," she spat, readying her shield with venom lacing her tone. She didn't notice Steven getting ready to scream. "You son of a bitch."

**Author's Note:**

> uh oh


End file.
